Nearby Theaters

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Edmonton architectural firm Stanley & Stanley designed the Paramount Theatre in the rather austere International Modern style of the early-1950’s. It featured a stone facade, an angled canopy across the width of the building, and a vertical marquee. The Paramount Theatre opened on July 1st, 1952. With its original 1,500 seats, it was Edmonton’s largest cinema, but the seating was greatly reduced in a renovation in the mid-1980’s.

Despite declining attendance, the Paramount Theatre remained open until June 2003. After its closing, there were plans to make the Paramount Theatre a venue for live performances as well as special event movies, but more recent plans envisioned its conversion to an IMAX theatre. It became a church in July 2006.

The 1952-1953 edition of Theatre Catalog, has a three page review of the Paramount Edmonton, which states the architects are Green, Blankstein, Russell & Associates, who also designed the Paramount Theatre, Lethbridge, Alberta.

Ken: My source for the attribution of the Paramount to Stanley & Stanley was this article by Edmonton writer and photographer Lawrence Herzog. His articles (archived here) were the source of most of the information for the various Edmonton theaters I added to the database.

Most likely both firms played a role in the design of the Paramount, but I have no idea exactly what role each took. Stanly & Stanley might have been only the local associate architects, advising the Winnipeg firm on local building codes and overseeing construction (Edmonton and Winnipeg are about 800 miles apart.) Or, Stanley & Stanley might have taken a more active role in the overall design of the building, and Green, Blankstein, Russell & Associates could have been responsible for no more than the theater layout and its details, if they were experienced in what Famous Players wanted in its theaters.

I’ve searched the Internet to see if I could find anything about an ongoing relationship between Famous Players and Green et al., but found nothing.